Thursday, August 25, 2011

Back to good health: Dolly the horse has doubled her weight thanks to the help of animal charity Happy Endings and emergency treatment from vets

A starving horse found rotting to death in a tiny enclosure with no food or water has astounded vets by making a miracle recovery.

Dolly the two-year-old cob was cruelly abandoned on waste ground in south east London and had shrunk to a third of her normal weight when she was discovered four months ago.

The famished horse had developed sores all over her body after being so weak she had to lie in her own filth, and was thought to be just hours from death.

Close to death: Four months ago Dolly was close to starving after being found with sores all over her body and having wasted away to a third of her normal weight

It is thought she had been dumped after giving birth to a foal, with her owner taking her baby and leaving the emaciated mare to starve.

Fortunately she was rescued in the nick of time after being spotted by a member of the public, who contacted animal charity Happy Endings in time for the poor animal to be rushed to a leading equine hospital.

Chris Johns, co-founder of Happy Endings, said: 'I have never seen a horse so close to death as Dolly, if we had got there a couple of hours later I don't think she would be alive now.